Yay!

[jethrien]

One of the kids I did an alumni interview with got in to Princeton! It's only the second one in six years of interviewing. I really liked this guy, too, and pushed hard for him. (That probably helped, but wouldn't have done much unless the rest of his record was stellar, too.) He sent me a sweet (and ecstatic) note letting me know that he was accepting and thanking me.

I only talked to him for an hour, but I still feel proud of/for him. Aww. Go, little brilliant high school student, go!

Comments

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Oh, YAY! How wonderful for him!

[chantal1382.livejournal.com]

Yay! In contrast, the only guy I interviewed this year told me, in response to my question "Why are you interested in Princeton?" that "I really like prestigious things." I mean, props to him for honesty I guess, but DUDE.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I had one who thought it was unfair that Princeton only took excellent students and that we should give mediocre ones a chance, too. His favorite class was lunch.

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

Yeeeah... I could almost give that response some credit if there was a favorite subject he was passionate about. But lunch?

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Basically, a parent was telling him he needed to go to Princeton. He had absolutely no intellectual curiousity of his own.

[wavilyem.livejournal.com]

Yay! I have one this year who I'm really puling for as well but I haven't heard anything from him yet (or the others I interviewed).

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

I had one girl this year who I'm really pulling for... but no news yet. Nice to see someone in the "future female leader" mold... most of the girls I interview are not interested in business, economics, or engineering.

Last year two of mine got in, which pretty much exploded my brain. One was smart and mature and intellectually curious in the interview and won me over, and the other must have been a truly stellar musician (no way to judge that in an interview).

Before that was the year I interviewed a trilingual student who does international development work in the summers and was taking multivariable calculus as a senior. And she didn't get in?!? She ended up at Columbia, though, so I can't feel too bad.

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I forgot to mention my very first interviewee also got in. Looking back, that kid was impressive but rather arrogant. The whole interview felt like he was interviewing ME. Prospective engineering student, and chose MIT over Princeton (no surprise, really, given the personality).

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I know, I've had some amazing budding scientists and politicians who didn't make it. You never know what their test scores or recommendations looked like, but so much of it really is just luck when the acceptance rate is this low.